38 



STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



less curved form, and being furnished with a second entrance. 

 No nest of any kind is used, but the egg is laid on the earth, at 

 the end of the burrow, so that, although it is at first beautifully 

 white, it becomes in a short time stained so deeply that it can 

 seldom be restored to its primitive purity. 



So deeply do the burrows run, that when a passenger is 

 walking near the edge of the precipice upon which the Puffins 



breed, he can hear the old birds grunting below his feet, angry 

 because they are disturbed by the footsteps above them. 



The young Puffin has many foes, who endeavour to seize it 

 before its bill has attained its full proportions and its muscles 

 have gained their full powers. The parent birds, however, 

 bravely defend their young, and have been known, as a last 



